TRINITY was the third of three visiting church groups that Johnathan our link person in Rwanda has organised over the last few weeks. Some of us have been many times while for others this was the first time.
We are always hit by the variety of thoughts and feelings produced. We always experience a warm welcome wherever we go and are overwhelmed by the love and generosity of the Rwandan people. The country ranges from the modern clean city of Kigali to the tiny mud huts that are everywhere scattered over the very beautiful land of a thousand hills.
Although economically poor the widows that we visit are spiritually very rich. The one precious object in their house will be a very well-thumbed copy of the bible. They are incredibly generous people, always welcoming us in and we are often sent away with bags of corn or other produce which they insist on giving us. Very often they will take in orphans often of no relation, even though they have not enough food for themselves as they are convinced that God will provide for them.
We are true friends of many of them and they will offer up loud shouts of praise to God when they see us. They love hearing about our families and will send us away with long prayers which we know will continue, when we are
far away.
When they get together they just love to sing praising God with song, clapping and dance, using their whole bodies in praise to God. Sunday is the day when they can spend time together as community resting from their hard labour in the fields and spend literally hours together praising God.
The diocese is very much a missionary organisation reaching out into areas where there is no evangelical church very often high up in the mountains. I have just been visited by our dear friend Ephraim who has built a new church very much by the hands of his congregation. He is growing the congregation there. He has just made five church plants just hiring a house for a Rwandan missionary to live in the middle of an isolated village to spread the gospel and establish a church.
They have learnt the secret of loving the Lord God, with all their thoughts, words, strength and being.
Compared to us in the west who have so much in the way of material wealth, they have the deep riches of simple Love of Jesus and neighbour. We would do very well to learn from these wonderful people how to live.
Ian Hempshall
Rwanda Mission Blog
ianhempshall.blogspot.com